Featured Folks Of Interest ...like a hole in my head... 52 Chevy

My friend Klaus called me Wednesday night that a buddy of ours needed to get rid of his 52 Chevy car project quickly, because he had to move out of his rented workspace and also ran out of funds for his project. We had talked to each other a few weeks ago as Klaus had asked me if I could reassemble the 235 that his buddy already had rebuilt at a reputable ( and very expensive) machine shop, and we agreed that I´d help him starting in January to get the car ready for spring. With all his hands full trying to handle what life is throwing at him at the moment, he asked me if I´d be insterested in buying his car. I showed my wife what the thought about that and she smiled and said: That´s goona be my car! Ok, I learned to not to speak against her so we struck a real good deal on the phone and Saturday afternoon I hooked up my trailer and drove to my friend´s place where he had put the 52 under a tarp when he was thrown out of his rented space.
OK, pics or it didn´t happen, I know

 

When we arrived back home Saturday night, of course the first task was to put in the lift and check out the car.
Of course the 52 is not a show piece by any stretch, the falt black paint is shot , it peels off in various places, but it seems the just painted of the old and worn thin og paint and flat balck didn´t adhere well.The engine is out of the car,the body has a few bondo spots and looks to have been hit once or trice, but floors and rockers are solid, it still has the original floors which are solid aswell, chrome is pretty nice, interior is all there and looks like it´s been done sometime ago.
I spread all the parts out on the floor and it seems like everything I need is there, some things double and triple. 6 engine gasket set, 2 timing gear sets, 2 new camshafts and lifters, 2 main bearing sets and 4 rod bearing sets... the block is 80 over and the old .060 pistons look almost brandnew aswell. I really wonder why they took the engine apart...maybe bearing damage.
The head has been cut, converted to nylon valve stem seals, new valve springs and retainers, very nice work from what I can tell so far. The crank is already in the block , but I´m still going to open the mains just to make sure and plastigage them.
I´m happy as I could be!
Dani would prefer if it was an auto, but she also drives my 55 235 / 3speed OD car flawlessly, and I just don´t want to open that can of worms at the moment. I love the old stovebolts and I´m not ready to swap the whole drivetrain .
If you guys have any tricks and things you are willing to share about these 49-54 Chevyies, I ´m new to them and trying to learn as much as I can, please share!
Thanks for checking in and I´ll promise to do updates !

 

Good start! Here is a buddy of mines 52
Has a small block and a 12 bolt rear
I keep trying to get him to lower it more.

 

here's a trick I learned, the go much faster with a V8.

 

Yeah, we were pondering to go that route too. I have a few 283s, two 327s and a ready to go 350 sitting , 2 aluminium PGs and 2 TH 400s ... I´d just need to find a rearend in the 3.08-3.55 range in the right width. My wife doesn´t mind the Inline 6s, I personally love them, but I´m not seeing myself spending 800 bucks plus shipping, handling, tarrifs and taxes on an adapter kit for the old stovebolt and still having to convert to open drive...

 

What no picture of momma posing with her new car and a big old grin on her face? It looks like you have a solid start!

 

Cool! I can relate to buying things I don't need. Even cooler that your wife wants it! My wife claims one every now and then as well.

 

First congrats! Second, Dani is a gem. Most women have a sense of value that is uncanny. Show them 3 cars and they will always pick the most costly! Her selecting a 4 door chevy as her own should be a relief.
That's quite the garage setup you've got.

 

Looks like a solid base. Also I have significant Bavarian heritage.

 

My cell phone ran out of battery when she took a seat in the car, put her ellbow on the window sill and smiled from ear to ear But I promise she will show up in a picture or two.

Mark, thanks for the info! I happen to have a spare Tri-5 Chevy rear and a few differentials, but I just remembered I gave an axle shaft to a buddy that had a bad wheel bearing on a road trip. So I pulled the axle to help get him home. Time to ask him if I can have my axle back, thanks for the reminder!

I had this 74 Delta 88 which was a perfectly good driver, fresh engine, but that´s just to modern for her taste ( and mine). Her ex-Suburban was a 52 aswell, and when I showed her the photos of the car , she immediately said: That´ll be mine

Thanks, yes I feel blessed that Dani chose an old weirdo like me. She actually does have that sense of value with some things, but with cars and men she seems to like the weird and neglected stuff, hahaha
I once made a deal with myself that I´ll never own more vehicles than I can fit into my garage. My first offense of that rule was when I built a bigger garage to fit 8 cars, the second one when I bought a lift and,because it was still too crammed, the third one when I parked my trailer and 34 Plymouth project car in my dad´s garage .

Thanks! Hey, that´s cool! Bavaria is not that big, where did your family come from? I´m pretty much in the south eastern part, about 50 miles east of Munich.

 

I've got a soft spot for '52 Chevys. I had a stock green 2dr when my wife Sandy and I started hanging out together. My previous girlfriend called it a "lugwump" and said it didn't have any "spirit". She also informed me I was only allowed to have one old car.
LOL... goodbye.
First time Sandy saw it, I opened the door, she stuck her head in and said "Wow... this car has character!"... as she dragged me into the back seat for kisses.

My Chevy had the 3spd on the column also. I liked it. No reason to change it. But the differential gearing for the 3spd cars is 4.11:1 You'll have 3.55:1 if you install a rear axle from an automatic-equipped car. But I think you can buy new gears, too. The better gears are good cuz sustained high RPMs can kill the early sixes. Full pressure oiling 235s aren't as bad as the 216s.

With an open exhaust, they buzz along pretty good. Mine just had a single open pipe. Letting off the gas at speed on the expressway while passing under an echoey bridge made for some awesome sounds.

'49-'52 Chevys are such unassuming cars. They're just, I don't know... friendly. LOL
Here's hoping you and your wife make some cherished memories in your old Chevy.

 

Room for the kids......Have fun with it...hop up the six...

 

I'm honestly not sure. I just know Grandma was at least 1/3 Bavarian. And pics I've seen of Bavarian natives back the claim up lol.

 

^This. Dani compared the 52 to a little puppy, there´s no way you can´t like it.
Tonight I checked the main and rod bearing clearences, which were perfect at .0015". Gapped the rings while I was there and Xaver, our 3 year old, helped torque down everything.

 

I've got a 50 Styleline deluxe, and I've been told that the rearend from a 70's Camaro/Trans-Am will bolt in as well. I think I might be going in that direction.

 

As far as bolt-in stuff, this is probably the easiest upgrade, although a rearend from a Powerglide equipped car is probably much harder to find in Germany than it is here in the states. Any 1950-1954 Chevy powerglide car rearend will fit though, or just the center section/gears if you want to take it apart.

Second easy thing is if you get the spindles/uprights from a 53-54 Chevy car it'll lower the front of the car almost an inch and bolts in without any modifications. Again, might be much harder to find there than they are here, but it does work.

Looks like a decent car to start with though, at least the grille and bumper plating appear to be pretty good. Those grilles are known to have terrible plating from the factory, and having one redone can be crazy expensive.

 

My 52 had a late 70’s Camaro rearend and it was a little wider than original if I remember right to where I had to have funny offset wheels. It worked, but the 55-57 rearend are a much more direct bolt in.

 

You got to get those family pictures while you still can! The 3 year old torquing the main caps would have been great too!

 

As for @SS327 ´s photo request... I don´t have one of him torqueing down main caps, but Sunday I took one of him eating ice cream on the trunk of my 55 Chevy and one of him harvesting corn during a walk around our little village.
(And of course I did not clamp the rod down in the vice, I just set it there to mount the piston rings after measuring the ring gaps.)

 

The picture of him varying that giant stalk of corn is priceless! Make those memories while you can!

 

Thanks for the heads up on that one. I'll have to dig a bit deeper into that rabbit hole before I commit to it.

 

Rod a Custom in the 80’s I think did an articulate putting a V8 in a 53. Lots of things there could help you.

 

Nice find. When I see pics of Bavaria I miss Straubing where I have family.

 

With any rear axle you were to swap in you would have to buy or look at photos and fabricate the spring seats for the axle. These being for older Torque tube Chevy pickups but will work for 54 and earler cars.
One would probably have to use (US measurements) 1-1/2 X 3 or 4 rectangular tubing with thick wall and then put a 1/8 spacer on the sides to get 1-3/4. With the offset from center of axle hole to properly locate the axle.

The only advise I have with the pressure oil 235 is that you need to run and early water pump with the adapter or a 54 water pump for fan to radiator clearance.

Every V8 swap in those that I have seen has had some cutting done on the firewall to frame supports for clearance that I never liked.

All those fees for shipping things across the pond including taxes works both ways. I was lookng at some components for the wheels on my OT ride last night and taxes/tariffs would run the tab up a bunch.
At any rate if you decided to install an open drive rear axle sometthing like this could be fabricated to get the job for far less than you could buy these for when you add up all the cost of buyng and importing them. You will have to cut the old axle seats and any other brackets or ? off any rear axle you put under the 52 anyhow. Finding a proper rear axle with 5 on 4-3/4 bolt pattern in Germany might be a challenge.

 

If interested I can take pics of the Engine mounting in my V8 swapped 53 bel air

 

Wow, Baumi, what a great catch, even as a four-door with a lot of charm.
I'd drive it too.
It's definitely a nice tourer to drive to meetings.
Regards, Harald.

 

I have a rear diff out of a 4x4 chevy S-10 in mine. the 4x4 ones are the correct width. The 2000's ones have disc brakes and there are a bunch of gear options.

 

I do have a 55-57 Chevy car rearend , I just need to get it back from my friend that I lent it to, hahaha, good thing I remembered that. A few years ago I put a late 70s Camaro rear in my wife´s 52 Suburban, I had to make spring pads for it, because I´d used 60 Ford Wagon leaf springs ( leftovers a friend had) mounted outboard of the frame to get the rear lowered... worked great. I´m going to figure something out.
Of course a 70s or 80s 10 bolt rear isn´t as common as it would be in the US, they are not unobtainable here. There were quites some Camaros , Firebirds, Caprices and s10s, etc imported or even assembled in Europe. I won´t be picky and I´m willing to do a road trip if I need to.
@51 mercules mercules I´m only 30 mins from Straubing! We´ve had a conversation about your family a few years ago, I think you showed me their VW family business van! Let me know if you happen to be here!